You're reading: Ukraine takes more gas out of underground storage in heavy cold

Due to very cold weather, Ukraine has been taking more natural gas out of its underground storage facilities of late, increasing outtake to 140 million cubic meters (mcm) daily, the press service to Ukrtransgaz announced Thursday evening.

National oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy’s data indicate that for several days there has been up to 45 mcm of gas received daily from the country’s gas-producing companies and that up to 168 mcm has been being imported.

Sources at Ukrtransgaz said that the company has taken the steps necessary to ensure reliable delivery of natural gas to consumers during the current heavy cold spell.

In order to ensure that consumers in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea are supplied with enough gas, the pipeline system Shebelynka-Dnipropetrovsk-Kryvy Rih-Izmail is being worked harder.

Full-time oversight of key Ukrtransgaz employees has been imposed and up-to-date reporting on any deviations in the operation of gas-transport system facilities is being conducted. The relevant subdivisions have prepared equipment and personnel for the event that weather conditions worsen.

Ukraine entered the 2011-2012 heating period with around 20.4 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas in underground storage. At the end of last month, the volume of active gas in Ukrtransgaz storage amounted to about 15 bcm.

The head of national oil and gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy, Yevhen Bakulin, predicted in mid-January that 3 bcm would be taken out of underground storage that month and 2.5 bcm this month.

With the arrival of severe cold near the end of January, Ukraine has been taking more gas out of underground storage. Energy and Coal Industry Minister Yuriy Boiko has said that Gazprom had been moving less gas to Ukraine’s eastern borders bound for Kyiv and countries in Europe, as provided for in technical agreements with Russia.

In response, the Ukrainian government expressed readiness to assist in ensuring enough gas gets to customers in Europe with gas from its own underground storage facilities. Boiko said in an interview that it an official proposal was received from Moscow Kyiv would be ready to help with its own gas.

Naftogaz Ukrainy, Boiko said, had on Ankara, Turkey’s request been providing an additional roughly 10 mcm of natural gas from underground storage per day.
Ukraine will soon be prepared to announce a tender for evaluating its gas-transport system for the future creation of a gas-transport consortium. Kyiv thinks it would be the best route to set it up with Russia and European countries involved, which would make it possible to attract funds for the system’s modification and increasing its operating efficiency and throughput capacity so as to meet the needs of all parties.